Some Important Urdu Constructions

In Urdu, there is no specific verb equivalent to the English verb 'to have'. Possession is expressed by different constructions containing the verb 'to be'. There are three important and widely used constructions of this type.

The first construction occurs when the object possessed is concrete and removable. In this construction, the noun denoting the possessor is in the oblique case followed by the postposition کے پاس ke paas 'near, by'. The noun denoting the object possessed is in the direct form, and the verb 'to be' agrees with it:

احمد کے پاس ایک قلم ھے

ahmad ke paas ek qalam hai

'Ahmad has a pen'

(literally: 'Ahmad-near one pen is')

اس کے پاس گھوڑا نہیں ھے

us ke paas ghoRaa nahiiN hai

'He has no horse'

(literally: 'Him-near horse not is')

The structure of the two other constructions is similar to that of the first one, but with different postpositions. The second construction uses the postposition کو ko. It is used for different abstract nouns:

اس کو شک ھے

us ko shak hai

'He has a suspicion'

(literally: 'Him-to suspicion is')

ان کو یہ حق نہیں ھے

un ko yah haq nahiiN hai

'They have no such right'

(literally: 'Them-to this right not is')

The third construction uses the postposition کا kaa. It is employed for nouns denoting inalienably possessed objects, such as body parts and kinship terms:

آدمی کا ایک سر ھے

aadmii kaa ek sir hai

'A man has a head'

(literally: 'Man-of one head is')'

اس کی ایک بہن ھے

us kii ek bahin hai

'He has a sister'

(literally: 'His (him-of) one sister is')

Personal pronouns do not combine with the postposition کا kaa. Instead, they are replaced by the corresponding possessive pronoun:

میرا بیٹا نہیں ھے

meraa beTaa nahiiN hai

'I have no son'

(literally: 'My son not is')'.

The English verbs 'must', 'should', 'ought to' and 'need' also have no exact equivalents in Urdu. Necessity, need, and obligation are expressed by different constructions.

One such construction includes the word (چاھیے (چاھئے caahiye 'necessary, needed'. In a sentence, this word follows a noun or a verb. The person obliged or experiencing the need of something is denoted by a noun or a pronoun in the oblique form followed by the postposition کو ko:

اس کو ایک قلم چاھیے

us ko ek qalam caahiye

'He needs a pen'

(literally: 'Him-to one pen needed')

When the construction includes a verb, the verb is always in the gerundive form:

احمد کو اچھی طرح پڑھنا چاھئے

ahmad ko acchii tarah paRhnaa caahiye

'Ahmad should study well'

If the verb is transitive, and a direct object occurs in the sentence, the gerundive agrees with the direct object in gender:

ان کو یہ کتاب پڑھنی چاھیے

un ko yah kitaab paRhnii caahiye

'They should read this book'.

The gerundive is used in some other constructions expressing obligation, such as those with the verb پڑنا paRnaa 'to fall to one's share' and those with the verb ھونا honaa 'to be'. These constructions function approximately in the same way as the English constructions 'to have to do something' and 'to be to do something' respectively. The rules of agreement are exactly the same as described above:

مجھ کو یہ کام کرنا پڑتا ھے

mujh ko yah kaam karnaa paRtaa hai

'I have to do this work'

احمد کو یہ کتاب پڑھنی پڑی

ahmad ko yah kitaab paRhnii paRii

'Ahmad had to read this book'

آپ کو صبح شہر جانا ھے

aap ko subah shahar jaanaa hai

'You are to go to the town in the morning'

اس کو میرے باپ سے بات کرنی ھے

us ko mere baap se baat karnii hai

'He is to talk (literally: 'to make a talk') to my father'

The auxiliary verb رھنا rahnaa 'to stay, to remain', preceded by the present participle of the main verb, forms a construction that expresses a continued action:

میں لکھتا رھتا ھوں

maiN likhtaa rahtaa huuN

'I go on writing'

وہ روتی رھتی تھی

vah rotii rahtii thii

'She went on crying'

بچے کھیلتے رھینگے

bacce khelte raheNge

'The children will go on playing'

The verb کرنا karnaa karnaa 'to do' is used as an auxiliary verb in a construction that expresses a recurring or repeating action. The main verb in this construction takes a special form, which looks like with the past participle in the masculine direct singular, but is indeclinable:

وہ شام کو آیا کرتی ھے

vah shaam ko aayaa kartii hai

'She usually comes in the evening'

میں اتوار کو غسل کیا کرتا ھوں

maiN itvaar ko gh'usl kiyaa kartaa huuN

'I usually bathe on Sunday'

اس کا دوست سگریٹ پیا کرتا تھا

us kaa dost sigareT piyaa kartaa thaa

'His friend used to smoke a cigarette'

The verb jaanaa 'to go' in this type of construction takes the form جایا jaayaa, not گیا gayaa:

وہ جمعہ کو مسجد جایا کرتا ھے

vah jumaa ko masjid jaayaa kartaa hai

'He usually goes to the mosque on Friday'

The verbs جانا jaanaa 'to go', آنا aanaa 'to come', چلنا calnaa 'to walk, to move', and چلا آناcalaa aanaa 'to come, to arrive', combined with the present participle of the main verb, form a construction that expresses a progressing, developing action or process. The auxiliary verb always follows the main verb, and both parts of the construction agree with the subject:

میں یہ بات سمجھتا جاتا تھا

maiN yah baat samajhtaa jaataa thaa

'I realized it more and more clearly'

وہ بھاگتی جاتی ھے

vah bhaagtii aatii hai

'She runs away farther and farther'